Mail-bag catcher.



E. E. HAYWORTH. MAIL BAG OATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED D3013, 1913. 1,1 14,690.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0.. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. c.

E. E. HAYWORTH.

MAIL BAG GATCHER.

APPLIGATION FILED DEO.13, 1913.

1,1 14,690 Patented 0013.20, 1914.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

THE NO RRIS PETERS CO PHOTQ LIT! WASHINOILHM I: H

EVERETT E. I-IAYWORTI-I, OF HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER.

nuance.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Evnnn'r'r E. HAY- WORTH,a citizen of the United States, residing at High Point, in the county ofGuilford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same. I

'My invention relates to new and useful improvements in mail bagcatchers and re sides in the provision of a catcher of the characterdescribed constructed and arranged to automatically release and catchmail bags in a reliable and expeditious manner.

An important object of my invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described which is simple as to construction and number ofparts, may be readily attached to railway cars and which is capable ofbeing moved into operative position for use or in an out of the wayposition when not ready for operation so that little space is consumed.I

Another important object of my invention is to provide a deviceof thecharacter de-' scribed which is reliable and efficient in operation, iscomparativelycheap to install and which is light strong and durable.

The above and additional objects are accomplishedby such means as areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the followingspecification and then more particularly pointed out in the claims whichare appended hereto and form a part of this application.

With reference to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferredembodiment of my invention as it isreduced to'practi'ce, and throughoutthe several views of which similar reference numerals designate cor--responding parts ;Figure 1 is a front elevation illustrating the deviceas it would appear when attached adjacent the door of a baggage car orthe like,.Fig. 2 is a section taken through a baggage 'car'illustratingthe device attached thereto and in plan and showingthe mail. bagcatching arms in operative position, Fig. 3 is a planview of themechanism for closing the catching arms showing the detachable plate forthe body portion of the device removed and the supporting rod forpivotally supporting the de- Specification of Letters E'atent.

Application filed December 13, 1913.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

Serial No. 806,626.

vice within the door of a railway car, Fig. 4 1s a cross sectional viewillustrating the means for supporting and releasing the mail bag to bedropped or deposited from the car and showing one of the snap hooks withwhich the mail bags are to be equipped, F 1g. 5 is a sectional viewtaken through line 35 of Fig. 2 showing the means forscur mg thesupporting rod tothe device and for preventing the device from turningon the supportlng rod, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6of Fig. 1- showing the means for holding the trigger rod in operatlveposition.

Referring to the drawings formin a part of this specification and inwhich ike numerals are employed to designate corresponding parts, thenumeral 1 designates as an entirety the body portion of the device whichin the preferred form is preferably rectangular andis preferablyconstructed of some suitable light metal.

A supporting rod 2 is inserted through the body portion intermediate theends thereof and is adapted to be rotatably journaled in the sides of arailway cardesignated 3 as an entirety. A pin 4 is inserted through thebody portion 1 and rod 2 so as to prevent turning of the device upon thesupporting rod 2. I The device is arranged in the usual manner adjacentthe door of a baggage or mail car so that the catching mechanism 1sdisposed 1n a plane parallel to the sides of the car, when in operation;

The body portion 1 is provided adjacent its inner end with a reducedhandleportion 5 by means of which the operator may swing the devlce intooperatlve or inoperative position. As a means for holding the devlceinoperativeposition there has been provided an angular bracket 6 that ispivoted as at 7 if if to an angular bracket 8 which is secured to theside edge of the door or someothei' suitable place. The bracket 6 isprovided with a flange, 9 that is adapted toengage the side edge of thebody'portion adjacent the handle portion thereof and serves to securely.hold the bracket 6 in place so that the device so that the body portion1 is free to swing into a vertical position from the operativehorizontal position such as illustrated in' Fig. 1.

The bracket 6 The body portion 1 is reduced adjacent its outer end as at10 and provided adjacent the outer end of the reduced portion 10 with arecess 11 for the purpose of mounting the mechanism for closing one ofthe catcher arms and for automatically releasing the mail bag to bedeposited or dropped. A plate 12 is adapted to fit upon the reducedportion 10 and is secured by bolts 13 or other suitable fastening meanssothat its upper surface is flush with the upper surface of the bodyportion and sides thereof.

Secured by a bolt 14 or other suitable fastening means to the outer endof the reduced portion 10 of the body portion 1 is a rectangular bodyportion 15 of an angular fixed grabbing arm 16. This arm 16 divergestoward its outer end from the end of the reduced portion 10 and isadapted for cooperation with a pivoted grabber arm 17 which will belater described. The body portion 15 of the arm 16 is disposed flushalong one longitudinal edge and end with the reduced portion 10 of thebody portion 1 and is arranged transversely of the body portion so thatits inner end abuts a shoulder 18 formed on the reduced portion 10 byrecessing as at 11. Openings 19 are formed in the body portion 15 of thearm 16 and in the reduced portion 10 to receive the securing member 13for the plate 12.

The pivoted grabber arm 17 is provided with an enlarged body portion 18that is disposed at right angles to the arm 17 and pivoted within therecess 11 by means of a tooth pin 20. This body portion 18 is providedwith an end opening recess 21 at its free end in which is pivotallymounted as at 22. a releasing rod 23. This rod 23 is slidable through atransverse opening 24 in the reduced. portion 10 and through apreferably rectangular slot or opening formed through the reducedportion 10. The opening 24- is reduced adjacent its outer end to providea shoulder 25 to engage the end of the rod 23 to limit its movement inone direction. The plate 12 is provided with an opening 27 similar tothe one 25 in the reduced portion 10 and adapted to register therewithwhereby a snap hook provided with an elongated eye and designated. 28 asan entirety may be inserted so that the rod 23 passes through the eyeportion of the snap hook. This snap hook 28 is adapted to be connectedwith a mail bag not shown. It will thus be seen that a mail bag to be deposited, is arranged or supported after the manner described by means ofthe releasing rod 23. The action of releasing the mail bag will be latermore fully described. Mounted within the recess 11 of the reducedportion 10 is a helical retractile spring 29 which is secured at itsterminals to the outer portion of thereduced portion 10 and to the innerend of the body portion 18 of the arm 17. This spring 29 serves tooperate the pivoted arm 17 so that a mail bag is held securely betweenthe two arms 16 and 17 The arm 17 is similar in shape to the one 16hereinbefore described and is adapted to be held in spaced open positionrelative to the fixed arm 16 by a trigger rod 30. This trigger rod 30 ispivoted at one end as at 31 to the pivoted arm 17 adjacent the outer endthereof, and at its other end is adapted to releasably engage the arm 16intermediate the ends thereof. An enlarged recess portion 82 is formedupon the arm 16 at the point Where the member 30 is adapted to engagethe arm and is arranged so that the recess 33 therein is open adjacentits inner end to facilitate the free inward movement of the rod 80relative to the outer end of the fixed arm 16; It will thus be seen thatthe free end of the arm 16 is fitted within the recess 33 of the arm 32.and will readily and freely move to permit the arm 17 to;

grasp a mail bag, upon the contact of the member 30 with. a mail bag.

When the arm 17 is in the position as illustrated in Fig. 2 thereleasing rod 23 is in supporting position, that is, is adapted toextendthrough the opening 25 so that it will readily support thehook member 28to which a mail bag is to be secured. It will be readily seen that whenthe arm 17 is arranged as disclosed in Fig. 2 and as hereinbeforedescribed, in open position, the contact of the rod 30 with a mail bag,facilitates the ready grasping of the bag by the movement of the arm 17owing to the action of the spring 29 and the releasing rod 23 is drawnthrough the opening 24': and out of engagement with the eyeportion ofthe snap hook 28, thus the bag to be deposited is dropped or releasedand the bag to be removed from the stand along the track is readilygrasped between the arms.

16- and 17. The operator then swings the bracket 16 so that the devicemay be readily lowered to a vertical position relative to the sides ofthe car and the mail bag is removed from the arms 16 and 17 which remainclosed and in clamping engagement with the bag, by the action. of thespring 29hereinbefore described.

The provision of the removable plate 12 facilitates the ready access tothe working mechanism of the device for repair thereto or renewal ofparts which may have become worn or broken.

It will be readily seen with reference to the foregoing description andaccompanying drawings that I have provided a device for catching andreleasing mail bags which is capable of performing all the functionshereinbefore described in a reliable and expeditious manner. It isdesirous of emphasizing the fact that the device is extremely simple asto construction and number of parts, is light, strong and durable,capable of being cheaply and readily installed in baggage and mail cars,and which takes up comparatively small space when in either extendedoperative position or out of the way inoperative position.

In reduction to practical have found that the form of my invention,illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, asthe preferred embodiment is the most efficient and practical; yetrealizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my devicewill necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minorchanges in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of partsmay be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of theadvantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with aswingingly mounted body portion adapted to be secured to a car, of afixed catching arm on said body portion, a pivoted catching arm mountedon the body portion, spring means for holding the arm in clampingrelation to a mail bag, a trigger rod secured to one of said arms andreleasingly engaging the other of said arms for holding the arms in openposition, said body portion having an opening therein, a mail bag hookadapted to be mounted within the opening, and a rod pivoted to saidpivoted arm and adapted to support the mail bag hook and mail bag whenthe pivoted arm is in open position and to release the mail bag upon thedisengagement of the trigger arm with one of the catcher arms.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with aswingingly mounted body portion, of a fixed catcher arm on the outer endof said body portion, a pivoted catcher arm adapted for clampingcoopera- Copies of this patent may be obtained for tion with a fixed armmounted upon the body portion, spring means for moving the pivoted armin clamping cooperation with the fixed arm, a trigger rod pivoted tosaid pivoted arm adjacent the outer end thereof and adapted toreleasably engage the fixed arm adjacent the outer end thereof, and forengagement with a mail bag, means for releasably securing the free endof the trigger arm to the fixed arm, and means carried by said pivotedarm for releasingly supporting a mail ha and releasing the mail bag uponthe springing of the trigger arm.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with aswingingly supported body portion adapted to. extend into and out of arailway car when in operative position of a fixed catcher arm secured tothe outer end of the body portion, a second catcher arm pivoted on thebody portion, a trigger interposed between the arms intermediate theends thereof and adapted for engagement with a mail bag, spring meansfor moving the-pivoted arm into cooperative clamping position relativeto the fixed arm upon the action of the trigger, said body portionhaving an opening therethrough, means adapted to be mounted within theopening for supporting a mail bag to be delivered, and a rod pivoted tosaid pivoted arm, slidable through the opening in the body portion andadapted to support the mail bag supporting means and to release thesupporting means upon the clamping action of the catcher, arms.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EVERETT E. HAYWORTH.

Witnesses: DORAN B; SHEPARD, J OSEPH D. CRAWFORD.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. G.

